Things have settled down a bit here at TU living after all the excitement during the beginning of July. I’m very much enjoying the idea of hosting and planning two weddings in the next two years—maybe even a third as I do have three children. I made a promise to myself earlier this year that I would start organizing a drawer, cabinet, or closet each week at the lake house during my stay this summer. So last week I attacked a ‘junk’ drawer in my bureau (most of you call it a dresser) and found a recipe that I had torn from a Family Circle magazine many years ago. The recipe is for…

Pasta Carbonara—*Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with eggs, hard cheese, bacon, and black pepper. Spaghetti is the usual pasta; however, fettuccine, rigatoni, linguine, or bucatini can also be used.

My family often enjoys Carbonara when dining out, and when my children were younger I often made a very simplified version of it when we needed a quick and delicious dinner before running out to an evening activity. Here is the delicious and calorie conscious recipe that I recently found in my bureau drawer!

Pasta Carbonara

Makes: 6 servings, Prep: 10 minutes, Cooking: 19 minutes

A recipe I saved in my bureau drawer for later...many years later!

All the ingredients prepped and ready to cook!

Ingredients:

¾ pound gemelli pasta

1 pound asparagus - trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

12 slices turkey bacon (6oz.) - cut crosswise into thin strips

1¼ cups Fat free half and half

3 egg yolks

½ tsp dried basil

¼ tsp salt

⅛ tsp black pepper

⅛ tsp ground nutmeg

⅓ cup plus 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Cooking Directions:

- Cook pasta in lightly salted water following package directions. Add asparagus to pasta water for last 4 minutes of cooking time. Drain and keep warm.

- While pasta is cooking, place turkey bacon in a medium-size nonstick skillet and cook over medium-high heat about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until slightly browned and crisp. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

- In a small saucepan, whisk half-and-half and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat about 8 minutes, whisking constantly, until temperature reaches 160 degree Fahrenheit on an instant-read thermometer. Stir in basil, salt, pepper and nutmeg. (NOTE: whisking constantly is important as to not make scrambled eggs!)

According to the recipe details this will save you 312 calories and 28 fat grams over a classic traditional Pasta Carbonara recipe. I hope you give it a try!

Photos wanted! Please share your delicious pasta Carbonara dinner with all of us! I would love to hear what you think of this recipe and any changes you made to yours—did you add another vegetable, maybe some red pepper flakes or even a different cheese? Talk to me and fellow readers on Facebook (@TUliving.Kathy) or Twitter and Instagram (@TU_living).